Vingt Dieux: authentic cinema devoid of dreamy sentimentality about rural French life
A César-nominated French film recommendation
French film Vingt Dieux stars Clément Faveau, Maïwène Barthelemy and Luna Garret
Pyramide Distribution
French cinema has a long and rich history of countryside tales, from the captivating, deeply moving 2002 primary school documentary Etre et Avoir up to 2023’s 5 hectares, about a man who packs in city life to run a farm.
The latest addition to the big-hearted ‘rural cinema’ canon is Vingt Dieux (Twenty Gods, but released for Anglophone audiences with the misleadingly upbeat title Holy Cow).
Read more: A French 'courtroom drama' film recommendation
It tells the story of Totone (a magnetic debut performance by Clément Faveau), a freewheeling youth in the Jura region of Eastern France whose life is all about chasing girls, fighting and riding dirt bikes. His life is turned upside down when his father is killed in a road accident and he must care for his little sister, Clare (Luna Garret). He cannot hold down a job but once he meets Marie-Lise, a coworker’s sister, he decides to take on his father’s dairy farm to try and make an award-winning Comté cheese.
What is remarkable is that the cast is largely amateur, which brings authenticity. The film is devoid of any dreamy sentimentality about rural France.
Released last year, it earned four nominations at the 2025 César film awards, winning two prizes: Best First Film for director Louise Courvoisier – who grew up in the Jura farming community depicted in the film – and Best female newcomer for Maïwène Barthelemy as Marie-Lise.
Stream on Apple TV, Amazon Prime.
Also out: La Venue de l’avenir
Four family members trace their genealogy after inheriting an abandoned property.
